Just A Taste

Blütenblatt was a nice place. Callisto wouldn’t want to live there mind you—his personal palace in Schloss was to his liking. But it was a nice place to visit. It was certainly better for shopping than Schloss, he thought.

Yes, that’s what he was there to do. Shop. Actually, he had come to visit a certain café, but he ended up getting distracted and may have forgotten about that. He had ended up going to an entirely different café, even. His order wouldn’t be done for a while, so he decided he would look around the area nearby. There was a shop next door, actually. The cashier at the café mentioned it. So, of course, he would go and browse while he waited for his food and drink.

It was… Well. Purple. The exterior was very Blütenblatt, for lack of a better term, but it was painted a soft, grayish purple. The signage indicated that it was a potion shop. There were… Some potions painted on the sign. Of course. And some sort of plants. And the name of the shop was above that: Dread, Wrath, and Beyond. It was, um… Interesting.

A small bell chimed overhead as Callisto opened the door to enter, and strangely, nobody seemed to be here, despite the door being unlocked. The lighting was dim, but not unbearably dark. Potions lined shelves behind the counter, and there were more shelves around the rest of the shop, as well as some bins of various potion ingredients. He briefly considered pocketing something before he heard hoofsteps from somewhere else in the shop. He noticed, then, that there was a door, slightly ajar, behind the counter. Quickly, before the proprietor came out to the storefront, Callisto grabbed something from one of the ingredient bins: a small sachet with a label reading, “powdered quartz.” He tucked it into his bag, then feigned interest in the remaining contents of the bin as the shopkeeper finally emerged. He was a tall fellow, possessing some animalistic traits. Reminiscent of the unicorns Callisto has scarcely seen sniffing around his garden. Quaint.

“Can I help you?” The fellow asked, before pulling down the black cloth that had been covering his nose and mouth, leaving it hanging loose around his neck. It revealed, to Callisto’s surprise, quite a bit of facial hair.

“I was…Just browsing,” Callisto mumbled. “I’m not sure what exactly I want, erm…”

“Algernon,” The unicorn kemonomimi filled in the blank for him. “I have plenty of pre-mixed potions on offer if you don’t want something custom. By all means, take your time.”

The incessant clip-clip-clip of Algernon’s hoof against the floor told Callisto that this Algernon fellow would rather he leave, or at least hurry up and buy something, so as suggested he turned to glance at the potions. There are some that can close wounds, some that claim to make you smarter, a few different varieties that can make you transform into something else… But what caught the faun’s eye was a rather bright pink one that simply had a heart on the label.

“Is this…?”

“A love potion. I assume that’s what you were going to say,” Algernon huffed, having started to organize some items behind the counter.

“Does it work?” Callisto asked. He looked at Algernon, who had a, quite frankly, insulted look on his face.

“Does it work?” The unicorn parroted. “You don’t trust me to tell the truth about my products?”

Callisto stayed quiet.

“Hmph,” Algernon again huffed. He came out from behind the counter and ended up at Callisto’s side. “If you won’t take my word, then you’re free to try it out.”

“And what would I get out of that?” Callisto asked, shuffling an inch backwards.

“Well, if it works, you get to learn that it’s real,” Algernon says matter-of-fact. A nonplussed reaction made him grumble, “… And you can have it at a discount. How does that sound?”

“Alright,” Callisto conceded. That sounded like a good deal. Probably. “And if it’s fake?”

“Then you get the satisfaction of knowing that it’s fake,” Algernon huffed. No, Callisto would not be getting it for free. Callisto gave Algernon a good, hard look for a moment. His face was unreadable. After another moment, the faun shrugged, and uncorked the bottle to take a swig of the pink potion.

At first, he didn’t feel any different. He looked up at Algernon, intending to call him on his bluff, but his stomach dropped when he laid eyes on the unicorn.

Realms. He was telling the truth. This is like the statue water all over again.

“Um, well,” Callisto mumbled, averting his gaze, a dusting of orange making itself apparent on his face. “It… It seems you weren’t lying.”

Algernon chuckled. By the Patrons, it was like music to Callisto’s ears. In that moment, the faun couldn’t help but take in everything about him. His mismatched eyes, rimmed with blonde lashes, were pleasing shades of blue and purple, and complimented his white, blonde-streaked hair (or fur?) quite nicely. His face had a slight purple flush to it, though that was likely due to whatever he had been doing before Callisto entered the store, rather than anything deeper.

“I told you,” Algernon murmured. He reached to take the cork and bottle out of Callisto’s hands, and when their hands touched, Callisto couldn’t help but sigh dreamily. Algernon had claws that looked like they could tear him to ribbons, but he had taken the potion from him so gingerly… While Callisto was, ah, occupied, Algernon re-corked the bottle. “Were you planning on telling me your name, by the by?”

“C-Callisto,” he mumbled. He was staring at his hand.

“Well, Callisto… Nice name,” Algernon said, chuckling again when the faun meekly thanked him. “I think I’d be willing to trade this potion to you, assuming you have anything of value in that bag there.” 

Callisto nodded and started to dig around in said bag, unfortunately walking Pretzel in the process. He forgot that his Sprite had been napping in there. Pretzel made short work of snaking up Callisto’s arm and settling around his neck, where he yawned before fixing a stare on Algernon. Callisto pulled a Jigsaw, which currently had a soft green glow, out of the bag. “Will this suffice?”

“Mm, sure,” Algernon hummed. He took the Jigsaw from Callisto, making the faun get flustered once again, and slipped the potion into his bag. He was clearly intrigued by how the color turned from green to lavender when he took it. “You should come by again sometime. Or at least keep in contact with me. I certainly would not mind seeing more of you…”

“Ah…?” Callisto turned more orange, if that were possible. “R-Right, yes, of course! I visit Blütenblatt every so often, and I can certainly come back here the next time I visit.” Callisto all but fainted when Algernon placed a hand on his throat and kissed the corner of his jaw. The unicorn chuckling at him once again is the only response he got from the other as he picked himself back up, and—

Callisto, moreso than Algernon, startled at a light knock at the window at the front of the shop. Algernon retracted his hand and backed away before the door opened again, pocketing the Jigsaw he had acquired as the bell on his door jingled.

“Um, Callisto, sir,” the new person said, clearly unaware of what had just happened inside the shop. “Your order is ready, and has been for a few minutes. We tried messaging you about it, but you didn’t reply to anyone.”

Oh, Hell! He had forgotten about that. He wordlessly, though shakily, followed the café employee, giving Algernon one last look before exiting.

After a few moments, Algernon placed the cloth back over his nose and his mouth to resume his earlier work. Not only was he having successful results today, he managed to dupe a rather handsome fellow into, well, becoming a potential cash cow for him. Or… Perhaps something else…? 

Life was good, right now.